'Alpha Dog' Real Killer Sentenced to Serve Life in Prison

Killer Jesse James Hollywood who inspired movie 'Alpha Dog' was sentenced to serve life in prison without parole following his crime to Nicholas Markowitz.

The killer who inspired 2006 movie "Alpha Dog" has been sentenced to serve life in prison without parole. Jesse James Hollywood was sentenced on Friday, February 5, 10 years after he led a gang murder of Nicholas Markowitz in California.

Prosecutors maintained Hollywood was the ringleader of a plot to kill Markowitz to send a message to the teenager's brother after he failed to pay off a drug debt. The killer was captured in Brazil five years after he disappeared from California. His arrest came just before director Nick Cassavetes' "Alpha Dog", which starred Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake, was released.

"Alpha Dog" itself was first released in the U.S. on January 12, 2007. The big screen project, which was in seventh at the box office during its debut weekend, has grossed $30.8 million worldwide over its six-week release.